Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill explained

Event:Men's Downhill
Games:1960 Winter
Venue:Squaw Valley
Date:February 22, 1960
Competitors:63
Nations:21
Win Value:2:06.0
Gold:Jean Vuarnet
Goldnoc:FRA
Silver:Hans Peter Lanig
Silvernoc:EUA
Bronze:Guy Périllat
Bronzenoc:FRA
Prev:1956
Next:1964
Men's Downhill
Location:Squaw Valley
Squaw Peak
Vertical:   758m (2,487feet)
Top Elevation:2707m (8,881feet)  
Base Elevation:1949m (6,394feet)

The Men's downhill competition of the 1960 Winter Olympics was held at Squaw Valley on Monday, February 22. The race was postponed from February 19, due to heavy snow fall.[1] [2] [3] [4]

The downhill race start was at the top of Squaw Peak at an elevation of 2707m (8,881feet). The course length was 3.095km (01.923miles), with a vertical drop of 758m (2,487feet).

Austrian Toni Sailer, the defending FIS Downhill World Champion did not compete as he had previously retired.[5]

Jean Vuarnet, the bronze medalist at the world championships two years earlier, won by a half-second in the only Olympic event of his career. It was the first time an Olympic race was won on metal skis.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Vuarnet's winning time of 126.0 seconds yielded an average speed of 88.429km/h, with an average vertical descent rate of 6.016m/s.

Helmets

This was the first Olympic downhill in which crash helmets were mandatory,[11] following the race death in 1959 of Canadian John Semmelink at Garmisch, West Germany.[12] [13] During his final race, Semmelink wore a leather helmet, which was more protection than many racers used at the time.[11] The U.S. Ski Team first wore crash helmets at the 1956 Winter Olympics,[14] but most of the Europeans went without.[11] [15]

Results

Monday, February 22, 1960
The race was started at 10:00 local time, (UTC −8).

Rank Name Country Time Difference
2:06.0 —
2:06.5 +0.5
2:06.9 +0.9
4 2:07.8 +1.8
5 2:08.9 +2.9
6 2:09.1 +3.1
7 2:09.2 +3.2
8 2:09.6 +3.6
9 2:09.7 +3.7
10 2:09.8 +3.8
11 2:10.2 +4.2
12 2:10.8 +4.8
13 2:10.9 +4.9
14 2:11.0 +5.0
15 2:13.1 +7.1
16 2:13.3 +7.3
17 2:14.0 +8.0
18 2:14.2 +8.2
19 2:15.1 +9.1
20 2:15.4 +9.4
22 2:15.9 +9.9
24 2:16.8 +10.8
25 2:18.1 +12.1
26 2:18.2 +12.2
27 2:18.4 +12.4
28 2:19.9 +13.9
29 2:20.0 +14.0
30 2:20.2 +14.2
31 2:20.8 +14.8
32 2:24.5 +18.5
33 2:24.6 +18.6
34 2:25.0 +19.0
35 2:25.1 +19.1
36 2:26.0 +20.0
37 2:26.2 +20.2
38 2:26.7 +20.7
39 2:26.9 +20.9
40 2:27.3 +21.3
41 2:27.4 +21.4
42 2:27.6 +21.6
43 2:28.1 +22.1
44 2:28.3 +22.3
45 2:28.4 +22.4
46 2:28.5 +22.5
47 2:29.0 +23.0
48 2:29.3 +23.3
49 2:29.4 +23.4
51 2:29.8 +23.8
52 2:30.5 +24.5
53 2:31.3 +25.3
54 2:32.0 +26.0
55 2:36.0 +30.0
56 2:39.2 +33.2
57 2:39.7 +33.7
58 2:42.4 +36.4
59 3:00.3 +54.3
60 3:20.2 +1:14.2
61 3:34.4 +1:28.4
- DQ -
- DQ -

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Girls to precede men in ski event . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington) . Associated Press . February 19, 1960 . 16. February 6, 2021.
  2. Web site: VIII Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley, California 1960 - Final Report. California State Printing Office. California Olympic Commission. 95–96. 1960. February 6, 2021.
  3. Web site: Alpine Skiing at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games: Men's Downhill . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417213525/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1960/ASK/mens-downhill.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . February 6, 2021 . Sports Reference.
  4. News: Russia clinches team title . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press . February 23, 1960 . 20. February 6, 2021.
  5. Web site: 1958 World Championships results. FIS. February 6, 2021.
  6. Heroes of Squaw Valley . Sports Illustrated . Terrell . Roy . February 29, 1960 . 20.
  7. News: Metal skis, wax key items in men's downhill . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . Uhrhammer . Jerry . February 23, 1960 . 1D.
  8. News: Ski-ing medal won by Frenchman . Glasgow Herald . February 23, 1960 . 9.
  9. News: Russ sew up title at Winter Olympics . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington) . Associated Press . February 23, 1960. 15.
  10. News: Top downhill skiers . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington) . (AP photo) . February 22, 1960 . 15.
  11. Web site: Ski helmets: how we got here . International Skiing History Association . Masia . Seth . December 15, 2019.
  12. News: Tragedy mars Canadian ski triumph . Montreal Gazette . Canadian Press . February 9, 1959 . 17.
  13. News: Ski crash kills Canadian youth . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press . February 8, 1959 . 4, sports.
  14. News: Crash helmets for U.S. ski squad . Sarasota Herald-Tribune . (Florida) . Associated Press . January 25, 1956. 11.
  15. News: Skiers cut loose at high speeds in tests . Ocala Star-Banner . (Florida). Associated Press . February 15, 1960 . 7 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.